Prelude 6 in D minor BWV 875

Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Under its figuration, this prelude is 95 chord changes across 62 bars — ranked 17 of 42 by measured difficulty (advanced) in this survey. Played as block chords, it's a progression you can learn in an afternoon; the piece is that progression wearing sixteenth notes.

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Opening bars of Prelude 6 in D minor, reduced to labeled block chords — The opening, reduced: one block chord per change, functional labels above.

How it opens

The first changes are VI (D) · i · iv (D) · i · iiø7 (Bb) · #viio (E) · V7 (C#) · iv7 (D) — and the whole prelude keeps moving at roughly that harmonic pace.

What it leans on

Of 83 labeled changes, the harmonies that do the most work: i (6×), V7 (G) (5×), iv7 (5×), v (4×), iv7 (D) (3×).

Free scores

Blocked-chord reduction (MusicXML) — the harmony skeleton the player performs
The prelude as written (MusicXML)